Harare, July 7 (IANS): After losing to Zimbabwe by 13 runs in their T20I series opener at the Harare Sports Club, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi believes India failed to stitch together a solid partnership, which led to their surprising defeat.

Bishnoi took career-best figures of 4-13 as India restricted Zimbabwe to 115/9. But Zimbabwe bowlers, led by three-fers from Tendai Chatara and captain Sikandar Raza, bowled out a new-look Indian batting line-up for 102 in 19.5 overs.

"It was a good game of cricket, but we collapsed, lost continuous wickets. A partnership would have made the game better for us. We could not do that. I think that made the difference. Zimbabwe’s bowling and fielding were really good. They did not allow us to build partnerships," said Bishnoi after the match ended.

Bishnoi claimed scalps of Brian Bennett, Wesley Madhevere, Luke Jongwe, and Blessing Muzarabani to become the second Indian bowler to pick a four-fer against Zimbabwe in T20Is after Barinder Sran did so in 2016. "We can learn something from every match. I am trying to learn from every match and get better at what I am doing," he said.

India are now 1-0 behind in the five-match series and need to bounce back in the second game on Sunday. Asked about Shubman Gill’s leadership in the match, Bishnoi was affirmative in his observations of him. "Shubman’s captaincy is very good. His bowling changes were spot on. It’s a sign of good captaincy," he said.

Bishnoi signed off by saying it’s time for youngsters to take the team forward after retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. "It’s time for new players. The senior players are retired and handed over the mantle to us. It’s our responsibility to take the flight ahead," he concluded.